The gang finally gets to see why Kelso chose Hyde and Jackie as Betsy's godparents.
Part four of my tumblr prompts game.
Prompt suggested by Kim1918 via ask
Prompt Game: I've always loved the idea of Jackie and Hyde taking care of something or someone together, I just feel like they'd make a good team. So maybe like a fic where the rest of the gang actually seeing how well they work together maybe babysitting or pet sitting. I think the rest of the group need to see more of what make Jackie and Hyde compatible and a great team.
The Perfect Couple
Hyde glanced at their intertwined fingers and couldn't help but smile a little. For some reason, he always smiles whenever he sees the simple promise ring sitting on her left ring finger.
The Chicago incident happened over 8 months ago, and Hyde could safely say that he and Jackie were closer than ever. After Hyde saw Kelso in his towel, he wanted to bail, but Jackie ran after him and pickpocketed his car keys, forcing him to stay so they could have a conversation about everything.
It was not a pleasant conversation at first, there was a lot of screaming – and crying -, but in the end they realized that neither of them wanted to be without each other, and Hyde gave her the promise ring he'd purchased the day she gave him the ultimatum.
"A promise that one day, I'm going to put an engagement ring on that finger" He said, cradling her face in his hands "We're not ready for marriage yet, but one day we will be"
He'd never forget how beautiful her smile was after he said that. She peppered his face with millions and millions of kisses, and he drove them back to Point Place after they put that motel room into good use.
After they came back, they found out that Eric didn't actually leave for Africa like he planned to, afraid of being away from Donna for too long. Red was enraged, and went fishing for a whole week after that.
"Thank you so much for taking me to the mall baby, I really needed some shopping therapy today" Jackie said as she and Hyde walked hand in hand through the Forman's driveway, both of them carrying shopping bags with their free hands.
"Never thought I would say this, but I didn't mind," Hyde said "I did nothing but sit on a bench and watch you change clothes, all while listening to Zeppelin on my brand new walkman and eating a bag of candy. I had a field day"
"You're so sweet" Jackie smiled and kissed his cheek
"Yeah, just don't tell anyone" He grumbled, and she giggled
As they made their way to the basement, they heard a loud, screeching noise that sounded a lot like the cries of an infant. They exchanged a confused look before opening the basement door.
Donna awkwardly held Betsy in her arms, trying to soothe the crying baby with no success, while Eric and Fez were both trying to muffle the sound by placing their hands on their ears.
Betsy's little face was red from screaming and wet from all the tears that were currently still leaving her eyes. Jackie glared at the three morons inside the basement, her protective godmother instincts kicking in.
"What the hell did you do to her?" Jackie asked, taking the crying baby from Donna's arms, perfectly cradling her little head and pressing a gentle kiss on her forehead. Betsy promptly stopped crying and started cooing, using her little fingers to play with the collar of her godmother's coat.
"Oh thank God, I can hear my own thoughts again!" Eric exclaimed, looking extremely relieved
Jackie and Hyde sent him a strange look. Jackie gave her shopping bags to Donna, so she could get a better grip on the baby. She bounced Betsy on her arms and she giggled, Jackie smiled and started talking to her in a baby voice.
"What did the three stooges do to you, Betsy boo?" Jackie asked, and Hyde chuckled at the dumbfounded faces of his friends
"How the hell did you do that?" Donna asked in awe
"I'm good at everything" Jackie replied nonchalantly, not taking her eyes off her goddaughter.
"What the hell is Betsy doing here?" Hyde asked, sitting on his chair and pulling Jackie – and Betsy – to his lap "Where's Kelso and Brooke?"
"Kelso had to drive Brooke to Chicago, something about her mother getting hurt. He's coming back to pick up Betsy in a few hours" Eric said
"And no offence, why the hell did they leave their kid with you?" Hyde asked
"Hey!" Eric protested "Offence taken! Why wouldn't they leave her with us?"
"I think that the previous 5 minutes are proof enough" Jackie said, looking tenderly at the baby in her arms "Where is her stuff?"
"Over there" Donna pointed at the top of the freezer. Jackie passed the baby to Hyde and went to pick up something in the bag, Fez, Donna and Eric watched them with shocked looks on their faces.
Jackie smiled brightly when she found what she was looking for, and moved to stand near her boyfriend and her goddaughter.
"What's that?" Eric asked, pointing at the weird looking toy Jackie held on her hands
"That's a teether," Jackie explained, giving the toy to Betsy, who was currently looking very comfortable on Hyde's lap. Jackie smiled softly at the sight, and sat on the ottoman between his legs. "Betsy's teething, and that's a toy for her to bite. It's supposed to relieve her discomfort or something"
Hyde lightly bounced the baby on his leg, making her giggle as she gripped the toy. Jackie was still smiling at them, while Eric, Donna and Fez looked even more confused than before.
"How…?" Eric choked out after a couple of minutes, looking at Hyde and Jackie in disbelief.
"How do we know that?" Jackie said, smiling smugly at him
"Yeah, that. And also, WHY?" Eric said exasperly, causing Hyde to roll his eyes. Jackie intensified her glare; how dare they underestimate her and Steven?
"We're her godparents, we babysit for Michael and Brooke whenever they need" Jackie explained "They normally drop her off at our place, which reminds me, why didn't they ask for us?"
"Uhh…" Donna said awkwardly "Kelso actually came here looking for you guys, said he figured you'd be here if you weren't at your place"
"And my parents are out of town" Eric completed "So we told Kelso he could leave her with us"
"You skipped the part where you laughed when Kelso said he wanted to leave Betsy with Jackie and Hyde" Fez added "They laughed a lot"
Eric and Donna turned to glare at him, while Jackie scowled at them and Hyde smirked.
"Why did you laugh?" Jackie asked indignantly
"Well… I mean…" Eric tried to explain, flinching under Jackie's burning glare "It's you and Hyde! You're creepy and unnatural! Donna and I are the perfect couple! Why would Kelso leave his kid with you guys?"
"Because obviously you and Donna are not cut out for the job!" Jackie retorted; Hyde snickered when he noticed Betsy's big brown eyes observing the feud attentively.
"That's…" Eric started, but Fez interrupted him
"True" Fez said with a teasing smile "And I am sorry Eric, but you and Donna lost the title of 'the perfect couple' when you ditched her at the altar. The basement's perfect couple is now Jackie and Hyde"
"What? No! This makes no sense! It's like in the new Star Wars movie, when…" Eric started, but Donna interrupted him
"Eric, I swear to God that if you complain about the new Star Wars movie again, I am dumping you and dating that cute guy from school" Donna said
"Ah, that reminds me of that dream I had…" Fez said with a smile
"What dream?" Donna asked
"In my dream, Eric actually went to Africa and you were dating a Andy Gibb look-alike" Fez said, and Donna gasped in horror "Kelso moved to Chicago, Hyde went to Las Vegas and dumped Jackie for a whore, which ended up dumping him for an old guy, and then Jackie and I started dating after Hyde broke her heart… Ah, it was a lovely dream"
"Fez, what did I say I would do to you if you ever mentioned that weird-ass dream again?" Hyde asked, passing the baby to Jackie and sending Fez a very threatening look
"That you would cut off little pepe and use him as a Christmas decoration" Fez answered, looking scared "Ai… I have to go"
With that, Fez fled out of the basement, leaving a very pissed looking Hyde behind.
"Foreign creep" Hyde muttered under his breath, and Jackie used her free hand to rub his thigh in an attempt to comfort him.
"Calm down honey, Fez is a freak" Jackie said, raising Betsy so she could be on his eye-level "Look at the cute baby. No one can be pissed while looking at a cute baby"
Betsy took Hyde's sunglasses off his face, and he had to bite back an amused smile.
"Why is she always doing that?" He asked as he took the sunglasses off her tiny hands, feigning annoyance, and hooked them to the front of his shirt.
"Because you have beautiful eyes" Jackie replied, hugging the baby tightly to her chest "And Betsy, just like her godmother, likes to stare at beautiful things"
"Awww…" Donna and Eric said, both giving Hyde taunting smiles
"Oh, you two shut up!" Jackie snapped at them "We were talking about your incompetence, don't change the subject!"
"We are not incompetents!" Donna protested, and Eric just shrugged
"I mean…" He started, but Donna shut him up with a glare
"Shut up" Donna said, then she turned to look at Jackie, Hyde - and Betsy "It's just that… We never imagined that you and Hyde would be good with kids, that's it"
"We weren't" Jackie explained "But she's our goddaughter and we figured… Well, we'd have to learn a little about kids if we ever want to spend some time with her"
"She figured, I just went along with it for the sake of my shins" Hyde said, taking Betsy from Jackie's arms "And she's alright man, she doesn't do anything other than babble, drool, eat, poop and sleep. Kinda like you, Forman"
Both Jackie and Donna laughed as Eric stared indignantly at them.
"Donna!" He whined, but Donna just gave him a condescending pat on the back
"But really, it's not that hard to take care of her. She's a pretty easy-going kid" Hyde said, passing the baby to Eric's arms "Here, take her"
"But… What if she screams?" Eric asked apprehensively
"She's not gonna scream you moron" Hyde replied "Look at her, she's fine"
"Yeah" Donna said, running her finger through Betsy's hair "She looks okay, it's cute, it looks like she's concentrating on something"
"Yeah… This is not that bad" Eric said, getting more comfortable with the baby girl in his arms and smiling "She likes her uncle Eric now, don't you Betsy?"
"See, it's not that hard" Jackie said "It just takes some getting used to"
"You're right, she's…" Eric started, but the smile was suddenly gone from his face, replaced by a look of total disgust. "Good God, why does she smell like… death?"
He passed the baby back to Hyde's arms, and scooted to the other end of the couch, trying to get as far away from the putrid smell as possible.
"Alright Jackie, she's reeking" Hyde said with a frown "Get the diaper bag"
Jackie threw the diaper bag over her shoulder and followed her boyfriend into his old room on the back of the basement.
"Your old room doesn't have any windows Steven" Jackie said
"Then I guess it's a pretty good thing I moved out" He replied, laying Betsy on his old cot, covering his nose with his shirt "Man, when are Kelso and Brooke going to potty train this kid?"
"She's one year old, Steven" Jackie replied, handing him a diaper and the baby wipes
"What, isn't that old enough?" He asked as he changed Betsy's diaper
Jackie just laughed and watched as he flawlessly cleaned up their goddaughter. Brooke taught him how to do that the first time they babysat Betsy, and since then he's on diaper duty every time they're alone with the kid.
Once Betsy was good to go, they entered the basement again and noticed how Eric and Donna were staring at them in disbelief and shock.
"Did Hyde just change a diaper?" Donna asked, looking confused "What the hell?"
"Isn't that like… Jackie's job?" Eric asked, and both Donna and Jackie glared at him
"What the hell does that mean?" Donna growled, looking pissed, and Eric shrunk on his seat
"Nothin, nothing! It means nothing!" He said, raising his hands
"Man, Jackie won't even touch an egg, what makes you think she'll change a baby's dirty diaper?" Hyde rolled his eyes
"And I had a manicure yesterday," Jackie added, taking Betsy from Hyde's arms and smiling at her.
"Hey Betsy boo, do you want to go upstairs and watch cartoons with Auntie Jackie and Uncle Steven?" Jackie asked in a baby voice. Eric winced at the sound, but Hyde was giving her an endearing smile.
"Why upstairs?" Donna asked
"Mr. and Mrs. Forman are probably still out and the TV upstairs is colored" Jackie explained, gently running her fingers through Betsy's hair
"TV!" The baby said in glee, clapping her little hands
"That's right Betsy, we're going to go watch pretty people on the TV!" Jackie exclaimed, going upstairs, with Hyde, Eric and Donna following them.
Eric took another sip of Red's beer. The good thing about his parents being out of town all day is that he can steal as many beers as he wants to, as long as he goes back to Madison before his dad realizes they're missing.
He heard someone entering through the sliding door and threw the beer can in the trash in panic.
Then he cursed himself for doing so when he realized it was only Kelso.
"Hey man, how's Brooke mom?" Eric asked as he searched for another beer in the fridge
"She's fine, she just twisted her ankle" Kelso replied "And I had to drive for two freaking hours with Brooke crying on my side thinking her mom was dying for nothing!"
"That's tough" Eric said "Did she stay in Chicago?"
"Yeah, she's staying there for a couple days to help her mom" Kelso answered "Where's Betsy?"
"She's with Hyde, Jackie and Donna watching TV in the living room"
"Hyde and Jackie are here? Thank God!" Kelso exclaimed, then he sent Eric an apologetic look "Uhh… Because…"
"I get it, man" Eric interrupted him, Kelso shrugged and they both left for the living room.
They stopped at the kitchen door, watching as Betsy stood up on her tiny little legs, and slowly walked up to Jackie, who took her in her lap and pointed things on the TV for her.
Then they turned to look at Hyde, who was sitting on Red's chair and staring at the two girls with an endearing smile on his face.
"And you wonder why I chose them to be the godparents" Kelso said to Eric "Look at them, man, they're great with her"
"You're right" Eric agreed, without hesitation "They really are"
"So today was a nice day" Jackie said as she got into her nightgown.
"Of course it was, you love outsmarting people on things" Hyde replied "Forman and Donna sure were upset"
"Serves them right for underestimating us" She said, getting under the covers in their bed "Creepy and unnatural my ass"
He chuckled, and slid under the covers with her.
"Hey doll?"
"Yeah?"
"It wouldn't suck" Hyde said, pulling her closer to him and burying his face on her hair "Having a little rugrat of our own one day"
"You really think so?" She asked with a small smile, turning around so she could face him
"Yeah" He said, smiling back at her "We'll make some really badass kids"
"Oh, and they will definitely be the cutest" She said "Can you imagine a baby with our genes combined? The other kids would be so jealous"
"They sure would" He said, pecking her lips gently "Good night doll"
"Good night pudding" She replied, turning the lamp off and turning around so he could spoon her.
He pulled her closer to him, lacing their legs together as his chest touched her back, and she was asleep in seconds.
He smiled and pressed a tender kiss on the back of her neck. She's amazing and he's more than lucky to have her by his side; it took him a while to recognize that, but now he does and he's never letting her go again.
As he closed his eyes and inhaled the sweet scent of her hair, he made a decision. Tomorrow he was going to the jewelry store. It was time to keep a promise he'd made a while ago.
A/N: Probably one of the fluffiest one-shots I've ever written. I hope you liked it, I certainly enjoyed writing it!
By the way, I haven't actually interacted with a baby in a really long time, all my baby knowledge is based on google, so I'm sorry if something was inaccurate lol.
See you all again soon, thanks for reading!